their lives,
liberty and happiness. At length, alarmed at her own energy and
boldness, so unwonted even to the proudest noble of the realm, in that
royal presence, she bent her knee, and baring her bosom, she lowered her
voice almost to a whisper, and said imploringly--

Strike, monarch! strike, this heart is thine,
To live or die for thee;
Strike, but heed this voice of mine
It comes from heaven, through me;
It comes to save this blessed land,
It comes thy soul to free
From those dark fears, and bid thee stand
The monarch father of thy land,
That only lives in thee.

Strike, father! if my words too bold
Thy royal ears offend;
The visions of the night are told,
Thy destiny the gods unfold--
Oh! be thy people's friend,
True to thyself, to them, to heaven--
So shall this lowering cloud be riven
And light and peace descend,
To bless this golden realm, and save
Tecuichpo from an early grave.

The vision of the beautiful pythoness had deeply and powerfully affected
the soul of Montezuma; and her closing appeal moved him even to tears.
Though accustomed to the most obsequious deference from all his
subjects, even from the proudest of his nobles, he had listened to every
word of Karee with the profoundest attention and interest, as if it had
been from the acknowledged oracle of heaven. When she ceased, there was
a breathless silence in the hall. The monarch drew his lovely daughter
to his bosom in a passionate embrace. Karee remained prostrate, with her
face to the ground, her heart throbbing almost audibly with the violence
of her emotions. Suddenly, a deep long blast from a distant trumpet
announced the arrival of a courier at the capital. It was a signal for
all the attendants to retire. Tecuichpo tenderly kissing her father,
took Karee by the hand, raised her up and led her out, and the monarch
was left alone.

In a few moments, the courier arrived and entering, barefoot and veiled,
into the royal presence, bowed to the very ground, handed a scroll to
the king, and departed. When Montezuma had unrolled the scroll, he
seemed for a moment, as if struck with instant paralysis. Fear,
astonishment, dismay, seized upon his soul. The vision of Karee was
already fulfilled. The pictured tablet was the very counterpart of her
oracular chant--the literal interpretation of her prophetic vision. It
announced the arrival within the rea